'To rediscover the art of living':
Pope Benedict awards the 2012
Ratzinger Prizes in Theology
October 20, 2012
Spread in the 10/21/12 issue of L'Osservatore Romano to highlight the Premio Ratzinger in theology.
Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday presided over a ceremony in which the 2012 Ratzinger Prizes for Theology were awarded to a renowned US scholar in patristics (study of the Church Fathers), Jesuit Fr. Brian Edward Daley of Notre Dame University; and the lay French philosopher and historian of cultural thought Rémi Brague.
In his remarks to the winners and the gathered guests, the Holy Father spoke of the profound and necessary connection between intellectual rigour and lived experience of the reality of God in all truly Catholic theological endeavour.
“Father Daley and Professor Brague,” said Pope Benedict, “are exemplary for the transmission of knowledge that unites science and wisdom, scientific rigor and passion for man, so that man might discover the [true] ‘art of living’.”
The Holy Father went on to say, “It is of precisely such people who, through an enlightened and lived faith render God credible and close to the man of today, what we have need.”
The Ratzinger Prize for Theology is sponsored by the Fondazione Vaticana Joseph Ratzinger-Benedetto XVI, which was founded in 2010, with the approval of the Holy Father. Its aim is to “promote the publication, distribution and study of the writings of former university professor Joseph Ratzinger.”
The Foundation also provides grants to doctorate students of theology and organizes high-level academic conferences. The activities of the foundation are financed through the publication and sale of Pope Benedict's works.
The Pope awards the prize to Fr. Daley...
And to Prof. Brague...
Here isa translation of the Holy Father's remarks after the awarding:
Venerated Brothers,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear brothers and sisters:
It is a pleasure to address my greetings to all of you who have gathered for this ceremony. ItThank Cardinal Ruini for his words, as well as Mons. Scotti who introduced the ceremony.
I heartily congratulate Prof. Daley and Prof. Brague, who, with their personalities, embody this initiative in its second edition. And I mean 'personality' in the fullest sense: their profile of research and all their scientific work; the precious service of teaching which both have carried out for long years; and also their commitment to the Church - each in his own way, of course, since one is a priest, and the other, a layman - actively offering their highly-qualified contribution to the presence of the Church in today's world.
In this regard, I have noted something which has made me reflect - which is, that the two prizewinners this year are competent and committed in two aspects of the Church that are decisive in our time: I refer to ecumenism and the face-to-face with other religions.
Fr. Daley, having studied the Fathers of the Church so extensively, was in the best school for knowing and loving the one and undivided Church in the richness of her diverse tradcitions:. And in this, he has also rendered a service of responsibility in our relationships with the Orthodox Churches.
And Prof. Brague is a great scholar of the history of religions, especially of Judaism and Islam in the Middle Ages.
Now, 50 years since the start of the Second Vatican Council, it would give me great pleasure to reread with both of them two of the Council documents: the declaration Nostra aetate on the non-Christian religions, and the decree Unitatis redintegratio on ecumenism. To which one must add a document that has shown itself to be of extraordinary importance: the declaration Dignitatis humanae on religious freedom.
Surely, it must be very interesting, dear Father and dear Professor, to listen to your reflections and even yur experiences in these fields, on which a relevant part of the Church's dialogue with the contemporary world is being played.
Actually, such an ideal encounter and confrontation already is present in your publications, many of which are available in various languages. I feel it my duty to express special appreciation and gratitude for your efforts in communicating the results of your studies. It is an effort that is serious and precious for the Church and for all who work in academic and cultural circles.
In this regard, I simply wish to underscore that both the prizewinners are university professors who have been very much engaged in teaching. This element deserves to be highlighted because it is consistent with the activities of the Foundation, which, beyond giving out the prizes, also promotes schoalrships for doctoral students of theology and theological conferences at the university level, like that which took place earlier this year in Poland, and which will take place three weeeks from now in Rio de Janeiro.
Personalities like Fr. Daley and Prof. Brague afre exemplars for the transmission of knowledge that unites science and wisdom, scientific rigor with passion for the human being, in order to discover 'the art of living'.
It is precisely through persons who - through enlightened faith and living - render God near and credible to man today, which is something that is every necessary. Men who have their eyes fixed on God to draw from him true humanism to help everyone whom the Lord places along our way, understanding that Christ is the way of life. Men whose intellect is enlightened by the light of God so that they are able to speak to the mind and heart of others.
We work in the vineyard of the Lord, to which he calls us, so that the men and women of our time can discover and rediscover the true 'art of living'. This, too, was a great passion of the Second Vatican Council, which is more than ever relevant in our efforts towards the New Evangelization.
From the heart, I renew my congratulations to the prize winners, as well as to the Scientific Committee of the Foundation and all their co-workers. Thank you.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 22/10/2012 00:44]